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Briatore heads to court

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Disgraced former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore will appear in a French court on Tuesday for the start of his hearing against the FIA.

Briatore is taking motorsport's governing body to court, wanting his lifelong ban from Formula One to be lifted.

Briatore was banned from the sport after the FIA deemed him to have ordered Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberate crash in the 2008 Singapore GP, thereby helping his team-mate Fernando Alonso to the race win.

However, the Italian, who believes former FIA President Max was "blinded by a desire for personal revenge", is taking the matter to court, alleging that the FIA contravened both it's own International Sporting Code as well as the laws of France, referring to the "the excessive and abusive power clearly exercised by both the World Council, in particular, and the FIA, in general."

The former team boss and manager is wanting to have the ban overturned and is also demanding �900,000 in compensation for the damage to his reputation.

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